1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an art restoration table and, more particularly, to such a table which utilizes a vacuum pump to facilitate the restoration of the painting as well as a transparent glass heating element which allows visual inspection of the restoration process.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Older paintings oftentimes will have surface irregularities such as cracks or loss of the paint caused by abuse or simple deterioration over the years. It is desirable to restore these paintings by providing them with a new canvas backing to provide support and to impregnate the painting with a resin to prevent further cracking. In the past, an old painting which was to be restored would be placed on a table face down, have a layer of adhesive spread over the back thereof and then have a new canvas backing attached thereto. A heated iron would be drawn across the backside of the canvas to heat the adhesive. This method is difficult to use and has numerous disadvantages, such as, the adhesive is generally not applied evenly, there is uneven heat distribution which causes sudden changes in tension in adjacent fields or areas of the paintings and the hot, heavy ironing necessary causes damage to the impasto or surface relief of the painting.
Heated Restoration tables have been developed which heat the new and old canvasses and at the same time place the canvasses within a partial vacuum causing the adhesive to penetrate the old canvas to provide a smooth and even distribution of the adhesive. This vacuum table method overcomes a great majority of the disadvantages of using the cold table method, however, major disadvantages and problems still remain. There is no way to visually inspect the canvasses while the restoration process is taking place to ensure that no air bubbles form between the canvasses and to ensure that the adhesive has sufficiently penetrated the painting.